Entries for February 2007

With movies like Letters from Iwo Jima and Pan's Labyrinth popping up at this weekend's Oscars, it's clear that English-speaking actors no longer have a monopoly on award-winning films. That's also holding true for start-ups. Around the world, more people are starting businesses, with middle-income countries leading the way, according to the recently released 2006 Global Entrepreneurship Monitor done by the London School of Business and Babson College in Massachusetts. The study, begun in 1999, now looks at entrepreneurship in 42 countries and talks to about 160,000 small-business owners.

New York State may be blanketed with snow this week, but at least small businesses won't have to worry much about heating bills. The state got a top rating in a comparison of states with the best energy climate for small businesses. Texas came in second, while Montana and Nevada were left out in the cold. Monday's study, done by independent utility Liberty Power, looked at how much choice small businesses in 20 states and the District of Columbia had when shopping for electric companies.

Many entrepreneurs start out getting tripped up by lack of planning. But for those who have done the research, pulled together the PowerPoint, and created an ironclad business plan, there's another trap lurking–"expert mind." That's the term consultant Pamela Slim coined for small-business owners who start out with the attitude that they know everything.

Ask people who work for a small business, and they'll often tell you that money isn't everything. Small-business employees are willing to accept pared-down paychecks to give up the grind of working in a cubicle farm, according to a Salary.com survey. About 62 percent of small-business employees think pay is better at larger companies (and 72 percent think benefits are better), but they stay at their jobs anyway, according to the survey of 474 employees at both large and small firms.